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Graphics CPU causing GPU bottleneck?

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by Greg_Head, 27 Apr 2013.

  1. Greg_Head

    Greg_Head What's a Dremel?

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    These are my current specs:I currently run these specs :
    Operating System
    Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit SP1
    CPU
    AMD FX-4170
    Zambezi 32nm Technology
    RAM
    8.00GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 666MHz (9-9-9-24)
    Motherboard
    MSI 760GM-P21(FX)
    Graphics
    2048MB GeForce GTX 660 Ti (ASUStek Computer Inc)
    Hard Drives
    1863GB Hitachi HDS722020ALA330 ATA Device (SATA)

    I find that running lots of games I get large amounts of fps fluctuation (10-90), some people suggested that my CPU was causing a bottleneck. And help would be appreciated and directions for the future regarding what my current limiting factors are. :)
     
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  2. fuus

    fuus Misses Rep Bombs

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    I'd say CPU. Other specs look pretty decent IMO
     
  3. mrbungle

    mrbungle Undercooked chicken giver

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    We need to know what games greg, some are more cpu reliant than others.
     
  4. total zombie

    total zombie What's a Dremel?

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    yes, its possible your cpu is holding things up, is the chip standard? i think its 4 - 4.2 ish?,
    you could try overclocking it a bit more or change it to a 5800k these are pretty good fm2 chips.
     
  5. Sentinel-R1

    Sentinel-R1 Chaircrew

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    Get yourself GPU-Z and leave it logging in the background while playing a ninja hard GPU benchmark. If the GPU doesn't reach 100% load, then a major component is bottlenecking data flow to your GPU. Might not be CPU though. Could be motherboard/ram combo also.

    Obvs you'll want to have cpu-z logging at the same time to see where your issue lies.

    Gaming and graphics benching should never max out a modern CPU, not even close.

    If you struggle to arrive at any conclusion, get yourself a copy of SiSoft Sandra and run the synthetic benchmarks against the recorded results of identical equipment. That will give you a ROUGH idea of where your problem lies.
     
  6. Parge

    Parge the worst Super Moderator

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    First try Ocing, then check your CPU is loaded 100% in if your still experiencing slowdown. If so, it might be time for a 8350 or something.
     
  7. docodine

    docodine killed a guy once

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    zambezi CPUs had horrible issues with gaming

    change it out for a vishera if possible
     
  8. Greg_Head

    Greg_Head What's a Dremel?

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    To whomever asked, my main play is BF3 but I also dabble is Far Cry, AC3 and various others.
     
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  9. Greg_Head

    Greg_Head What's a Dremel?

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    CPU is 4.2Ghz but this confuses me since I have friends who run i5s with 3.5Ghz running much faster than me.
     
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  10. vector01

    vector01 What's a Dremel?

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    its not just 4.2GHz that counts towards the speed speed of a CPU a core i5 will be faster than these CPUs.


    No business links in your posts, please. --Nexxo
     
    Last edited by a moderator: 7 May 2013
  11. Stanley Tweedle

    Stanley Tweedle NO VR NO PLAY

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    Is your PCIe GPU slot running at x16? It should be by default but just wondering if you have something dropping the PCIe to x8 x8

    Apart from that the intel cpu's generally have faster architecture so even if the clocks are the same on your AMD you won't get the same performance.
     
  12. Parge

    Parge the worst Super Moderator

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    x8 isn't going to make a significant difference with that card anyway, certainly not those kinds of fluctuations.
     
  13. spolsh

    spolsh Multimodder

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    Does it fluctuate a lot of the time, or is it only when a map initially loads ?
    Do you have anything running in the background that may effect the gaming performance (eg. an over protective anti-virus) - Maybe even a scheduling issue for some background service ?
    Do your scores on graphics benchies sit close to those of people with similar machines ?
    Are the cpu and gpu temps getting too high and causing a temporary throttling of performance ?

    Unlike some others, I doubt it's the CPU itself (if working correctly) that's the problem - I had a 4100 chip that had no problems running BF3 when paired with a hd6850 graphics card. Wasn't all maxed out, but was fast and playable.
     
  14. Stanley Tweedle

    Stanley Tweedle NO VR NO PLAY

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    Agree purely because of the 2gb vram.

    It was a serious problem for me with BF3 on ultra back when I had SLI 560Ti 1gb.
     
  15. total zombie

    total zombie What's a Dremel?

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    the intel chips have a higher data through put than current amds, so the amd chips have to run a higher clock rates to achieve similar results.

    this is just a simplyfied explanation but theres plenty of ino around if your interested in learning a bit more about the differences:thumb:
     
  16. Greg_Head

    Greg_Head What's a Dremel?

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    It fluctuates all the time, seems like certain areas of the map, so for example just walking BAM wall of lag, then walk a bit more and then back to normal, may be wrong about certain areas but i'm not sure.
    Don't think anything that would be seriously effecting the speed of games (I run avast if it makes any difference).
    Don't know what the benchmarks are for my machine but according to the article I shouldn't really get below 52 fps on BF3.
    Temps vary a bit but I try to make sure it never goes above 75 C.
    Lowering the setting has very little effect other than to increase peak fps, still drops to below 15 on occasions even when running 1240 x 720. All help so far is greatly appreciated :)
     
    Last edited: 7 May 2013
  17. Parge

    Parge the worst Super Moderator

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    Can you download fraps and record your fps in a game, then post it up here, so we can see the exact range you are talking about. Maybe in BF3?
     
  18. Greg_Head

    Greg_Head What's a Dremel?

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    I could try a benchmark of some kind, BF3 would be ideal but that would need to be over the weekend. Also I was using fraps when I last got the framerate issue, I think a repeat could be achieved whilst recording :)
     
    Last edited: 7 May 2013
  19. Stanley Tweedle

    Stanley Tweedle NO VR NO PLAY

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    http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/fx-4170-core-i3-3220-benchmarks,3314-6.html

    Looks to me like the 4170 is on a par with i3-3220. I have 2 friends playing BF3 on i3 ivy bridge. Both have 660 GPU (not the Ti) and both report no fps issues.

    From what others have said here it seems like your cpu might be the issue.

    What you might try is reducing any other programs to a minimum and for the sake of testing... completely uninstall your antivirus. This is very important and the reason I say this is because I had to uninstall Kaspersky Internet Security 2013 this year. I'd used it for years and liked it a lot but my windows started grinding... my boot time slowed to that of a hard disk (I have SSD) and I'd have 1 core suddenly max out and cause the desktop to slow to a crawl.

    After weeks I found it was kaspersky. Uninstalled and system has been very fast and smooth. I should point out that my system is i5 2500k @ 4.9ghz with 16gb ram. So if an AV can screw up my system in that way... you have to at least remove the AV and then try BF3 performance.

    Get rid of anything else in startup that's not absolutely necessary.

    Something else I've done is to disable windows Aero theme. It drags the system down. Untick everything on visual FX except for visual styles on windows and buttons, smooth edges of fonts and show thumbnails instead of icons.
     
  20. Harlequin

    Harlequin Modder

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    Last edited: 7 May 2013

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